PARIS (AP) — The French civil aviation investigation bureau BEA has concluded there were "clear similarities" between this month's crash of an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX plane and a Lion Air plane crash last October.

The French bureau said Monday that black box data from the Ethiopian Airlines flight showed the links and will be used for further study.

Ethiopian authorities asked BEA for help in extracting and interpreting the crashed plane's black boxes because Ethiopia does not have the necessary expertise and technology.

The Ethiopian Accident Investigation Bureau intends to release a preliminary report within 30 days.